Shifting Gears
by MG12CSI16
Summary: Stealing his car is one thing but accidentally stealing his baby brother too? Yeah, that's going to be a problem. Hurt!Sam, Protective!Dean and a splash of Bobby.


My attempt at some slight Sam whump and even slighter humor (it ended up as mostly angst because apparently I can only write fluff or pure angst), although I'm not sure how good it actually is because this is my first go at either of those. I'll let you all decide. As for the facts on the locations and things all I can say is that I have no knowledge of SD whatsoever and everything I've said here is compliments of Google and Google maps. Feel free to make corrections as you see fit, I would really appreciate it!

* * *

**Shifting Gears**

It never ceased to amaze Dean how easy it was for Sam to get himself into trouble. Even on what was supposed to be a simple, cut and dry possession case the kid managed to get himself knocked unconscious for who knows how long, sprawled out in the Impala's backseat with his mouth hanging open and one arm laying across his chest and the other dragging on the cars floor. It had taken Dean longer than he had anticipated to actually get him in the car, his size coming as a disadvantage for his shorter brother who had cursed him to hell and back the entire time.

His plan was to head back to Bobby's house, patch Sam up and lay low for a day or two until the kid could walk without falling over or blacking out again but with at least thirty more miles to go and the desperate need for a bathroom break he knew the plan would delayed for just a bit as he spotted a gas station coming up on his left, looking rundown and ancient. Dean figured it would have to do, it beat a push or the bottle in the floor, and he carefully let the Impala cruise into the parking lot and slid into a spot on the far right.

Glancing back at Sam with uncertainty he almost contemplated waiting but as he sat with his ankles crossed dangerously tight and tapping his fingers on the steering wheel he knew that was _not _a good idea so instead he threw the door open and sprinted into the store as quick as he could, body hunched against the pressure in his lower abdomen as he ignored the curious glance of the man who had just walked out.

Much to the hunter's dismay upon walking-awkwardly limping inside Dean didn't make it back out of the crappy store for a good ten minutes after learning he had to actually buy something before the owner would hand over the key to the bathroom. So after standing in a line that seemed to move slower than Sam after a few beers he managed to purchase a pack of minty bubble gum before _finally _making it into the dingy, poorly lit bathroom that more than likely had subjected him to any number of lovely STD's. Once relieved and a dollar fifty poorer he was able to walk out the front door, humming a Zeppelin song under his breath after he popped a piece of the gum in his mouth. He didn't look up from his phone as he sent a quick text to Bobby, updating him on the situation until he went to step off the sidewalk and cross over to the spot he parked his baby in but when his eyes finally lifted and scanned across the lot he didn't see any sign of the black car anywhere.

Blinking harshly, just in case his eyes were playing tricks on him after a major lack of sleep, he looked once more, craning his neck and checking every available space the store had to offer. There was no Chevy Impala as far as he could tell and instantly he found his chest tightening with panic. His breaths began to come in short, deep gasps and he clutched at the front of his shirt as if to still his erratically beating heart and he could no longer deny he was hyperventilating.

His baby was gone.

His prized possession and last thing he had as a memory of his father, taken right out from under his nose.

Managing to calm himself just enough to wrench his phone back out of his jean pocket Dean frantically scrolled through his contacts, ready to call and rehash every memorable detail he could to Sam until suddenly dawned on him like an ice cold rain shower.

Sam was in the car, and if the car was gone, than so was Sam.

Shit.

* * *

"You what?"

Bobby was pacing back and forth across the parking lot, stopping only to kneel down in front of Dean and grab him gruffly by the shoulders when he caught his attention drifting. The younger man swallowed thickly and tried to manage a slightly lopsided and completely guilty smile as he shied away from the clenched fists around his shirt.

"I went into the store to take a leak, gone for maybe ten minutes, and when I came out my baby was gone!"

"And Sam?"

Dean ducked his head sheepishly at almost forgetting his brother and muttered almost too low for Bobby's aging ears to pick up.

"He was knocked out in the backseat like I told ya; I doubt anyone bothered to look back there although how they could miss the freakin' hibernating Sasquatch is beyond me!"

His voice had taken on a hysteric edge by now and Bobby rolled his eyes, feeling the pressure behind them build at an alarming rate. If he was being honest it didn't surprise him one damn bit that Dean had managed to get himself in a situation like this one. It seemed wherever the idjit went trouble was not that far behind and when he had called Bobby in what sounded like hysterics he believed it almost instantly.

Sighing and digging his own keys out his pocket he threw Dean's jacket at him and stalked toward the car parked on the other side of the lot.

"Come on ya idjit, the car and Sam ain't gonna find themselves."

For a moment he gawked but once he recovered Dean scrambled after the older man and jogged behind him, shrugging on his leather jacket as they approached the car and slid into their respective seats. Dean clicked on his seatbelt and turned to Bobby.

"So you have a plan or…?"

He watched Bobby's eyes narrow and he shrugged apologetically as the car shot to life when the key turned in the ignition and the gear shifted into drive, the crunch of gravel beneath the tires attempting to drown out his voice.

He glanced over at Dean before returning his eyes to the road.

"First we're gonna ask around, see if anyone's spotted the car and what direction it was headed in. 'Round here there ain't too many beauty's like yours so if someone saw it they'd definitely remember." Dean slightly brightened at that until Bobby continued in a graver voice.

"Or, if we have any luck left for us at all and whoever it was that took it discovered Sam in the back and decided not to throw him out on the side of the road, there's a good chance they turned tail and abandoned it."

Dean swallowed at the last option, silently praying that that wasn't the case at all. While it was easier means for finding his baby and his brother it proved a bigger danger to Sam. If he was found and the asshole who took him and the car was dangerous or crazed there was more than a good chance that the Sam they potentially find on the side of the road would be dead, he was already injured as it was and a bullet or a tumble out of a moving car was not going to help matters.

They drove in silence for a good ten minutes until a smaller road on their left that Bobby explained led to a tiny town appeared and they gradually began to see a small row of shops and a post office next to one of the smallest banks Dean had ever seen. Bobby parked in front of what looked like an outdoor supply shop and gestured to Dean to follow him.

Considering he seemed to have his head on straight and had yet to actually show any real signs of panic Dean felt it was only logical that he let him take the lead on this one. Taking in a deep breath he threw the car's door open and slowly followed Bobby into the shop where he was already talking to a middle aged man at the counter. He approached, catching the tail end of the conversation.

"I saw a Chevy roll through here about an hour ago. The guy stopped and asked for the quickest directions to the next town over. Something about an auction happening tomorrow, said he needed some fast cash and he had to sell the car." The man shook his head mournfully. "It was a shame to hear him say that. It was a real beauty."

Bobby nodded in agreement, jotting down on the information in his slanted chicken scratch while Dean fixed the man with a deathly serious stare.

"Did he have anybody with him? A younger guy with long hair, about yea high?" he held his arm a good four inches above his own head, waiting for recognition to take over the guys face but all he saw was a blank stare before he shook his head.

"No, can't say he did. But then again I only saw a glimpse of the car from the window so it's always a possibility that the guy was in the car and I just didn't see."

Instantly Dean deflated but he thanked him anyway and followed Bobby back outside, slumping against the body of his car and digging the heels of his hands into his eyes, groaning.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry kid. We're gonna get your brother back, I have a pretty good idea about where that car is going to be anyway."

Dean's head shot up as Bobby continued. "Out in Aberdeen there's a big auction around this time every year and if you got a nice car you can count on getting a fair share of cash on a good day. I'd place my own bet that that's where our guys headed."

"But what about Sam?" Dean worried, anger slowly pulsing through him. "There's no way he hasn't been noticed by now and we haven't seen any sign of him along the highway."

He could tell that underneath Bobby's cool expression lies the same fear he felt. Sam was like his son and whoever took him would have one hell of beating coming his way if he found out the kid was hurt in anyway. The older man sighed and shook his head.

"All we can do for now is keep on trucking and hope we find something on the way to the auction."

He was about to say something else but just as he opened his mouth again a light bulb seemed to go off in Dean's head and he grabbed Bobby's shoulders.

"Did you bring my laptop like I asked?"

As soon as Bobby nodded the affirmation Dean was digging through the backseat, letting out a triumphant grunt when his fingers brushed against the case. He logged on and began typing while Bobby just looked lost as he peered over his shoulder.

His eyebrows rose when he took notice of the website. "GPS in his phone?" he guessed as Dean typed in Sam's cell number.

"Yeah. I never had it turned off after the last time so if Sammy's phone is on we should be able to get a location."

He heard an impressed hum and Bobby's hand once again clapped against his shoulder. He shook off the pride swelling in his chest, replacing it with the adrenaline that began to course through his veins when the computer began triangulating and let out a satisfying ping once it was finished. Dean looked at the dot that was supposed to be Sam and felt the color drain from his face as he glanced at Bobby.

"It's not moving."

* * *

As soon as he found Dean, he was going to kill him.

It was one thing to get knocked out during a hunt when your brother decides to use you as a distraction while he exorcised a demon but it was a complete polar opposite to wake up on the side of the road with a headache and bump on your temple the size of a golf ball. Either way Dean Winchester was a dead man.

Sam had been walking for nearly forty minutes, knowing that with the looming threat of a concussion hanging over him the safest play was to keep moving and stay awake, but as the headache grew worse and his legs got wobblier he couldn't bear to go any further and eventually came to rest next to a row of trees a few yards from the edge of the road. He had tried earlier to call Dean, then Bobby and then Dean again but he got the same monotonous dial tone every time and out of frustration shoved the thing back in his pocket.

He closed his eyes against the harsh sunlight streaming down, wondering why out of all the places Dean could lose him and he could be discarded like a piece of trash it had to be on a highway that looked like it hadn't seen a car in years. The most he'd seen on his walk was a herd of cows and a stray dog that he didn't bother to look twice at and neither of those things were going to help him. The longer he sat the harder it seemed to be to keep his eyes open, sleep beckoning him like any breathing thing in a skirt did to Dean. That's when he knew it was bad.

Eventually his eyes drooped shut and he knew things could only continue to get worse from there. On top of everything else that was happening now that he was only moments away from unconsciousness once more he was pretty sure he was hallucinating as he heard familiar gravelly voices calling his name over and over.

"Sam? Come on boy where are ya?"

He could have sworn that sounded like Bobby but he didn't trust himself enough to open his eyes.

"Sammy! Sammy I know you're here somewhere because if you're not I am suing the hell out of this GPS company! You can even represent me!"

Ok, now that definitely sounded like Dean.

Even though the pain was close to unbearable by now and the exhaustion taking over his body was too much to fight Sam cracked one hazel eye open just in time to see Bobby's car slowly rolling down the road, Dean sticking halfway out the window as he continued yelling for him. Too exhausted to stand he did the only thing he could think of and slowly raised his arms over his head, waving them as eh called as loudly as he could.

"Dean! Bobby!" His throat was dry and his voice sounded terribly flat as he tried screaming as loud as he could, and eventually he heard the sound of slamming doors and the crunch of feet against the ground before things went black.

* * *

When Dean heard the voice he thought his heart had stopped. While he couldn't see anything at first glance he knew he could hear Sam's voice and when he looked sharply at Bobby the older hunter nodded. It wasn't just him that could hear it and the fact gave Dean another pump of adrenaline as his eyes scoured the roadside for his little brother. Just as he was about to call out to Sam again he caught sight of the red flannel shirt Sam had been wearing earlier, barely visible through a dense collection of sticks and tall grass.

"There he is!" he yelled and Bobby immediately slammed on the brakes, causing Dean's head to collide with the top of the car.

Wincing and shrugging off Bobby's gruff apology he threw the door open, laptop discarded onto the seat and tore off in the direction of his brother. When he reaches Sam the first thing he notices is the extremely pale skin and the bump on his head, the second is the almost invisible movement of his chest as each vital breath enters and leaves his body.

He can faintly hear the approaching footsteps as Bobby reaches them and the breath that more so resembles a gasp leaves his lips.

"Dammit," he says, bending down to inspect the damage alongside Dean before he grimaces and rubs a hand over his face, eventually letting his eyes fall onto Dean's terrified face.

"We better get him to a doctor and quick."

* * *

This time when he wakes up everything hurts. From his head to his feet every muscles seems to protest to even the slightest movement. He could tell almost instantly that he was no longer outside, the smell of disinfectant and the beep of machines a dead giveaway before he could even open his eyes. When he did finally manage to blink a few times he instantly shrank back against his pillow when a face appeared just inches from his.

Dammit Dean.

His brother smiled faintly as Sam rubbed his eyes, the IV in his hand tugging at his skin uncomfortably. He sighed and looked at Dean once he settled back in his chair next to the bed, clearing his throat against the scratchy sensation in his throat. He watched Dean pour a glass of water before handing it to him and he drank greedily before wiping his lips and setting it on the bedside table.

"Where's Bobby?" he finally asked, noting the man's absence.

"Went to go get Baby. He and Sheriff Mills are gonna crash that auction out in Aberdeen and hopefully give that asshat what's coming to him."

Sam snorted and winced at the throbbing in his skull. He didn't miss the worry in Dean's eyes but neither of them said anything. It was an uncomfortable moment of silence until Sam spoke up again and the question bouncing on the tip of his tongue made its way out into the open.

"Why aren't you with him? That car is your life; I figured you'd want to be the one to give the guy a piece of your mind."

It was true, Dean thought, the Impala was his prized possession but it was nowhere near as dear to him as Sam and he felt guilty knowing his own brother was unaware of that even after all these years. Sighing he leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms, locking eyes with Sam and narrowing his own in seriousness.

"Sammy look. I know I care a lot about the car and sometimes I act like I shouldn't have to take care of you because you're a grown ass man but that doesn't mean I'm gonna pick a hunk of metal over you. You're my brother and you'll always come first." He sheepishly smiled as he added, "And I'm sorry I left you unconscious in a shitty parking lot in the middle of nowhere and consequently got you kidnapped by what could have been a crazy person."

Sam rolled his eyes but couldn't stop the laughter bubbling up when he heard the _giggle _that broke past Dean's lips as they shared one of their all-knowing, identical looks before they collapsed into full blown howling laughter and any doubts or anger they had just had melted aay. He supposed he couldn't really fault Dean too much anyways.

He was alive after all.


End file.
